evanp

Hello, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but a little while back my car overheated and there was a bit of smoking, the serpentine belt snapped. I replaced it, and by that time it cooled down I was able to start it again and drive it home, everything seemed fine. Next day I cleaned the IACV because it was stalling a bit and started up the car and it was working better than it had in a while. Then I turned it off, went inside for a bit, came back out to test drive it and it wouldn't start. I've checked the battery at Autozone and it's fine. I then had a friend try to start the car while I looked under the hood to see if I could see/hear anything I couldn't from the cabin. I saw the belt get pulled, which I assumed was the starter, after a few attempts smoke started to come out from a hole where cables feed through and I told my friend to shut it off. I never saw smoke come from that area before, it was not a lot but definitely enough to see and smell. I'm not sure if something electric got fried or how to check it. I scanned it with a scanner this morning and got no error codes, which is weird because the car HAD an error code before. In total the car started about 5 times after the overheating incident.


Smoke came from the cable hole between the windshield wiper fluid and the battery when trying to start.

Car Analogy

No, the belt is not involved in the starter. The belt simply drives water pump, alternator, and ac compressor. It drives these off crank pulley. As engine turns, these other accessories turn.

The electric starter motor turns a gear, which engages the teeth of the flywheel. That all happens where you can't see it from under hood.

'won't start' is always ambiguous. You need to provide more details.

Press starter, and which of the following happens:

You hear the rrr,rrr,rrr sound of the engine trying to start (and was it a strong, healthy rrr, or weak and barely happening?>

You hear a single click, then nothing

You hear a bunch of clicks

You hear nothing at all

Tell us which it is please.

evanp

Thanks for the explanation, I really appreciate it as I'm not an expert on this stuff.

I hear a single click, and then nothing.

I've been told that this means it is most likely a starter problem, and that the smoke most likely came from the starter, but came through the wiring tubes that connect the battery to the starter.

I'll be removing the starter today and taking it to Autozone.

I'll happily take any advice, I'm trying to do everything the right way with this car. Forgive and more importantly correct any dumb assumptions I make, I'm still learning.

Iyan112

Try removing serp belt and try starting, if it does, you got a seized pulley. If overheated, may affected the water pump.

oooS2ooo

some simple scanners dont show a problem, find who has a pro version

Car Analogy

A single click is the starter solenoid engaging. Basically an electromagnet, that flips a switch to allow the huge current used by starter.

But then starter does not turn, as you don't hear the rrrrr of the starter trying to turn engine.

Typically that would be:

Not enough juice getting to starter (either because battery too low, or a problem with battery cables.)

A bad starter.

Something keeping engine from turning. Like a seized engine, or seized serpentine belt driven stuff.

You can:

Try putting a socket wrench on front crank pulley bolt, and see of you can rotate engine. This will rule out seized motor or serp belt driven stuff. If it won't turn, remove serp belt (just loosen it by pulling it off one pulley after relieving tensioner).

Check for frayed or corroded battery red cable and ground cable. Make sure cables tight and secure to battery, and no corrosion.

Remove starter to have it tested. Do this last, as it ain't easy on our cars. The top starter bolt is the one that makes it difficult. You have to go from under hood, from front of motor, using a loooong socket extension, under intake manifold, while peering through intake manifold runners with flashlight trying to get socket onto bolt.

I find it helps greatly to just remove alternator first, and go in right where alternator was.

Be super careful not to break the knock sensor, which is under intake manifold, and easy to break. Expensive part.

evanp

It's been a few years but I'd figure I'd give an update. The original problem was that the battery was actually bad. It turns out AutoZone's battery test isn't 100%. I eventually got it tested by a mechanic's load tester and it tested bad. Of course the warranty was out by the time I figured out the battery was bad.
I also removed the starter from the bottom of the car following to get it tested and made the mistake of not tightening the ground cables from the bottom all the way. This caused issues when I finally replaced the battery.
Moral of the story: AutoZone's battery test isn't 100% and tighten the ground cables all the way!

windhund116

Nice Public Service Announcement!